Tragedy of Alpatacal

The tragedy of Alpatacal occurred on 7 July 1927 in Mendoza Province, Argentina, when a train full of passengers, mostly cadets of the Military School of Chile, crashed with another one waiting on the small train station of Alpatacal (after the events renamed as "Cadets of Chile").

Thirty people were killed and more than thirty were injured. This accident was one of the biggest tragedies in the military history of Chile during peaceful times, with twelve military Chilean people dead, but also causing the death of sixteen Argentine train workers. The military people of Chile were on the road to Buenos Aires to participate in the celebrations of the Independence of Argentina and the birthdate of President Bartolomé Mitre.^[1]

Despite the situation, the survivors arrived in Buenos Aires and participated in the celebrations, due to the order of General Bartolomé Blanche to comply with the invitation of the Argentinian government.^[2]

Many tributes were paid to the victims, both in Argentina and Chile. A street in Liniers neighborhood was named "Alpatacal" and in the military school of Santiago the is a memorial that paid tribute to the dead cadets and is a place used in ceremonies to give honors to cadets for outstanding actions in service. Also, is a place to commemorate the relations between Argentina and Chile.^[3]

A sculpture of bronze of the Argentine artist Alberto Lagos was installed at the place of the crash, which represented the union between both countries. The sculpture was stolen in 2006.^[4]